Tag Archives: Edelweiss Books

Amy Whey has everything she has ever wanted: a successful marriage, a lovely home in Florida, an adorable baby and a stepdaughter she genuinely loves. Her roots in the neighborhood are deep and secure, and her dearest friend is right there as well. Then all of it—every last bit—is threatened by a newcomer with an agenda all her own.

Jackson has had a string of bestselling novels, most notably
Gods in Alabama and Between, Georgia. She is among my favorite writers, and this is
her best book to date. My thanks go to Edelweiss and William Morrow for the
review copy; however, this is one novel I would have paid full jacket price for
if it had come down to it. This is the finest mystery you’ll see in 2019, and
it will be available to the public July 30, 2019.

It’s time for the monthly book club to meet, and although
Char is the host, the group has temporarily relocated to Amy’s for logistical
reasons. The members have gathered, but then there’s a rap on the door. Who in
the world…? It’s the newcomer, a renter
that has taken residence in “the Sprite house,” named for its unfortunate paint
color. She hasn’t been invited, but she’s come, just the same:

“She was the pretty
that’s on television: symmetrical features, matte skin, and the kind of long,
slim, yoga body that still made me feel self-conscious about my own. I hadn’t
been seriously overweight since I was a teenager, but looking at her I was
instantly aware of the little roll of baby weight still clinging to my middle…She
didn’t look like my own destruction to me. She looked…the world was ‘cool.’…An
odd thing to think. I was forty-two years old…I looked at the loaded gun on my doorstep,
and, stupid me, I hoped she had the right house.”

This new neighbor is Roux, and she is a darker, more adult
version of The Cat in the Hat. Instantly divisions are sowed, and old
established friendships are tested as she manipulates these women into
competing for her approval. She’s done
her homework, and she knows everyone’s darkest secrets, especially Amy’s. But
Roux hasn’t bargained for the kind of adversary she has chosen. Amy proves to
be a bad enemy.

This is a compelling thriller, the sort that takes over my
life until it’s done. I finished reading it months ago and have read dozens of
other books since, but something in me still stirs when I glimpse the book’s
cover. In fact, I wasn’t able to write this review until I had allowed myself
to read it a second time.

Part of Jackson’s magic is in addressing real parts of women’s
lives that seldom make it into our literature. It is gratifying to see her
address emotional overeating as a component of Amy’s story; yet I would love to
see her write another novel in which the protagonist is a good person with
heart and dignity, and yet is still obese (rather than formerly.) If anyone can
do that well, it’s this author.

Run along now; you’ve got a book to order. If you’re stone
cold broke, get on the library’s waiting list. Nothing else can take the place
of this story.